In the spirit of this weekend’s “Mulan”, I thought I would think outside the box of the normal “Snow White”, “Peter Pan”, “Pinocchio”, even “Brave” mentions in these types of blog posts and write up a list of 5 Disney Animated films that are less-well-known (that I mostly love) that I would like to see get live-action remakes. None of these are really classics and all have been mothballed to a certain extent by the studio – either for artistic or box-office reasons, and sometimes both. Also, none of them are now “cult classics” like “The Black Cauldron” or “The Rescuers”. One note: they are all (except for “Kingdom of The Sun”) readily available on Disney Plus.
1. The Fox and The Hound (1981)
This is one of my personal favorite Disney films of all time. Maybe its because I watched the VHS about 100 times and bought a stuffed Copper the first time I went to Disneyland. I’ve always loved this film and the values that it preached about friendships and how in many ways hate is indoctrinated. Seems more relevant than ever.
2. The Reluctant Dragon (1941)
This is a completely forgotten film that was actually made after “Snow White” but was released during the animation strike of 1941 so was a wild dud. But the film itself is interesting and that it does not just rely on a known fairy tale (like Walt Disney would come to rely on in the future) but instead works as a tour of the studio with some sequences with real actors added in, it could be something really special and different. Also without too much of a legacy its the rare re-make that won’t get a bunch of Ryan Reynolds “BUT WHY” GIFs when some scooper announces it on twitter.
3. Kingdom of The Sun (c. 2000 – Unreleased)
One of the great Disney “what could have beens” is “Kingdom of The Sun” – an epic musical film about the Incan empire (more in line with “Pocahantas” and “Mulan”) that would eventually get reconstituted into “The Emperor’s New Groove”. While people like “The Emperor’s New Groove” well enough, I personally feel like “Kingdom of The Sun” with a half-dozen songs by Sting and a storyline that emulates Mark Twain’s “The Prince and The Pauper” could have been something really special. But it was not to be. Disney execs came in and retooled the film when they experienced pacing and tone issues after a screening of a work-print. While Disney Studios has never released details of the original film, parts of the story and many of the songs are documented in the hard-to-find documentary “The Sweatbox” (2000) directed by Sting’s wife Trudie Styler (who was also in the original cast of “Kingdom of The Sun”). But what about a live-action version of “Kingdom”? The story itself is a bit more grounded and would be a bit less FX heavy in a live-action form and would also be something that might lend itself to live-action. And in a way, Disney could sell it as connected to “Emperor’s New Groove” – featuring some of the same characters and songs. If nothing else, maybe a stage version of “Kingdom of The Sun” might also be worth trying.
4. Home on The Range (2004)
I love this film about 3 cows on and their “little patch of heaven”. Seriously I got my first car after this film came out and I had the CD and played it in my car CONSTANTLY. The film featured awesome songs from Alan Meken and Tony winning lyricist Glenn Slater. It even has an song that was a veiled but confirmed reaction to 9/11 by Menken (weird reference I know but it deserves to be stated and remembered). This would be a WILD remake, considering we would have to use “The Lion King” or Jungle Book type tech to make cows come to life – BUT we would also be using it for a live-action western which could be kind of fun and fresh – especially for kids. The color palette is also bright and cheery but still using shades associated with the mythology of the American West. OK. Lets face it, no one would see this but I would like 100 times and tweet about it incessantly and probably have 3-5 people unfollow me. But it would be worth it. A western with COWS.
5. The Wild (2006)
I’m not the biggest fan of this film but I am the biggest fan of the general pitch of the FIRST HALF of the film. Animals from the Central Park Zoo escape in an effort to prevent a young lion’s accidental return to the wild. In an effort to stop the cargo container from making it onto a boat and dawn and run wild for one night in NYC. Now that would be awesome. Unfortunately the film goes on for another 45 minutes as the animals go back to the wild along with the son. Again, using the tech from “The Lion King” and “Jungle Book” this would look awesome and be a huge film – if the story was kept in NYC. One of the big problems (not for me) with “The Lion King” was the lack of humans and I a film like “The Wild”, reconceived as this story, would have a lot of weird human/animal interaction and allow for some big set-pieces that could look cool in a live-action setting (even if it looked kind of run-of-the-mill in the actual film). The film also features an awesome song “Really Nice Day” that they would hopefully re-use.
So which films would you all like to see remade by Disney? Maybe it’s none. But I am guessing there is one you want to talk about.
No Scoops Club 